The Dallas Mavericks had to take a slap in Washington against the Wizards around Kristaps Porzingis, Franz Wagner injured himself. The Memphis Grizzlies beat Phoenix with a B-Team, the Minnesota Timberwolves keep their playoff dreams alive.
Orlando Magic (20-58) – Toronto Raptors (45-32) 89:102 (BOXSCORE)
- Fifth straight win for the Raptors, who are now three games clear of seventh-ranked Cleveland and are slowly but surely beginning their first round of playoff planning. In Orlando, the Canadians gave their all and led by up to 22 points in the third quarter.
- The foundation for this was a solid defensive performance. Orlando only hit 42 percent from the field, while Toronto forced 21 turnovers that led to 32 of their own points. The entire Raptors starting five ended the game in double digits, with Scottie Barnes (19, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, +32) and Fred VanVleet (19, 7/19, 5 steals, +30) leading the game. Pascal Siakam scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
- For Orlando, Mo Bamba’s 15 points (plus 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocks) were the team’s best. In the fourth quarter, Markelle Fultz (12, 7 assists) and Moe Wagner (8, 3/8 FG, 8 rebounds) brought the hosts back down to -11, but Toronto kept its nerve and downplayed it confidently.
- For Franz Wagner, the evening was already over after 20 seconds. The Berliner injured himself during a defensive action in the post, when Scottie Barnes fell on his foot. The Magic announced in the first quarter that Wagner would not be returning. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley was unable to provide an update on the injury after the game.
Washington Wizards (34-43) – Dallas Mavericks (48-30) 135:103 (BOXSCORE)
- Off-night for the Mavs, who put on a largely bloodless performance at the reunion with Kristaps Porzingis. The opposite was true for the Latvian, who was visibly motivated and handed 24 points (8/18 FG) to his former team. Especially at the beginning of the game the unicorn had a hot hand, later his jumpers stopped falling.
- With the hosts, not only was Porzingis in the rhythm at the beginning, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (35, 13/19) also hit his jumpers and helped the Wizards score a whopping 41 points in the first quarter – despite only 6 points in the zone. Washington hit 12/19 on jump shots and 8/13 from middle distance for a quick double-digit lead.
- Dallas, on the other hand, was noted that it was the ninth game in 15 days. Many threes were too short, as a team the guests only hit 30 percent from a distance. The fact that the Mavs came back to -9 just before the break was mainly due to fouls being drawn. In the first half alone, Dallas took 20 free throws, 19 were in.
- After the break, however, the Wizards quickly cleared things up with a 17-2 run. KCP, Porzingis and Rui Hachimura (21, 8/14) hit threes, Dallas threw the ball away several times. The lead grew to 26 points, and a Mavs run with three threes in a row wasn’t enough. Luka Doncic (36, 11/22 FG, 10/10 FT) lost a total of 5 balls. Otherwise only Jalen Brunson (21, 9/13) scored in double digits, Maxi Kleber had 6 points (2/5 threes), 5 rebounds and 1 block in 26 minutes.
- On the other hand, there was a premiere for head coach Jason Kidd, who picked up two technical fouls in a row early in the fourth quarter and was thus able to save garbage time. Kidd had only conceded a single T in 76 previous games.
Boston Celtics (48-30) – Indiana Pacers (25-53) 128:123 (BOXSCORE)
- It was tedious, but in the end the Celtics achieved a must-have (start-finish) victory against Indiana, who made one big play after the other even in crunch time and just didn’t let it break off. The problem with that: They couldn’t stop the Celtics either. That was especially true for Jaylen Brown, who was the hosts’ best player that night with 32 points (12/18 FG) and 7 assists.
- Jayson Tatum (31, 10/24) wasn’t quite as efficient but provided the highlight of the evening with this dunk over Goga Bitadze. A layup by Derrick White (13) with 14 seconds to go was the deciding factor after Oshae Brissett (17) and Lance Stephenson (11, 11 assists) came close with threes in the closing stages. The Pacers hit 17 of 36 long-range shots and even had to do without their best player in crunch time.
- This was clearly Tyrese Haliburton, who played the Celtics a good three quarters in pick ‘n’ roll. The point guard scored 30 points on just 11 throws and sank every one of his six three-pointers. A fatter stat line was only prevented by fouls. With four minutes left in the third period, the guard had already accumulated five fouls when he returned in the final quarter, followed by the sixth after just 14 seconds.
- Daniel Theis was allowed to start at Boston this time and did a decent job in the Rob Williams role with 10 points (5/8 FG), 8 rebounds and 1 block in 29 minutes. Al Horford had 17 points (7/8), 10 rebounds and 6 assists.
